I originally thought this album was going to sell at most, 15,000 copies in the first week, but based on all the positive reviews, all the support for them from members at Blabbermouth, and Century Media announcing that the amount of pre-orders are more than double of what they expected, I think that number will be closer to 20,000.

So you're expecting this album to sell as many copies the first week as the new Testament album did last year? Seriously, how delusional are you? Frequency Unknown sold 5,000 copies it's first week. This one might do a little better but don't be surprised when it sells below 10,000 copies. Weather Tate is singing for the band or not, the bulk of metal fans today just don't give a shit about Queensryche anymore.

The album is "out" now and I will be giving it a listen later on today.

And it'd be silly if this album didn't sell more than FU, or even DTC. FU literally had no marketing. DTC had barely any. Century Media has been really pushing this new one, so you would hope that would correlate into some sales. But honestly, I'd be shocked if it sold more than American Soldier, which sold 21,000 in its first week. Even if it makes it, that's still a big drop from what QR were doing with Tribe & O:M II.

My day job is in digital production for a record label group, for those who don't know, and I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the digital campaign is a fat fucking failure.

They're charging $11.99 at iTunes. MASSIVE artists get away with that, artists who are looking for a big sales number first week sell it at $7.99 then raise it to $9.99 two weeks later, 99% of artists sell at $9.99 the entire life of the record. Nobody with QR's diminished stature should be charging $11.99 at iTunes during pre-order and immediately upon street date. Hell, they couldn't have gotten away with that in O:M II era. Today, it's suicide. I don't even expect it to crack the metal charts next week. (watch me eat my shoe when it's #1 because of e-sheep like fonz)

EDIT: If Queensryche were our clients, I'd have suggested a $7.99 price point through a long pre-order period and revert to $9.99 two weeks after street.

My day job is in digital production for a record label group, for those who don't know, and I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the digital campaign is a fat fucking failure.

They're charging $11.99 at iTunes. MASSIVE artists get away with that, artists who are looking for a big sales number first week sell it at $7.99 then raise it to $9.99 two weeks later, 99% of artists sell at $9.99 the entire life of the record. Nobody with QR's diminished stature should be charging $11.99 at iTunes during pre-order and immediately upon street date. Hell, they couldn't have gotten away with that in O:M II era. Today, it's suicide. I don't even expect it to crack the metal charts next week. (watch me eat my shoe when it's #1 because of e-sheep like fonz)

EDIT: If Queensryche were our clients, I'd have suggested a $7.99 price point through a long pre-order period and revert to $9.99 two weeks after street.

Wow, I had to go double check that to be sure. $11.99 is the same price as the deluxe version of the new Black Sabbath album, which features - literally - twice as much new material and from a way larger band! $11.99 for 35 minutes of new music is ludicrous (as if the two live tracks makes up that difference. )

I think what kills me about the whole QR bullshit of the last year is that guys like Fonz would be LOLin' if it was "Geoff Tatertot" (and I mean, enough with this already) pulling this shit with the pricing, length, and everything else, but because it's the "real QR" every sin is not only forgiven; they're not actually sins. You see, the new EP... I'm sorry, album... is only 35 minutes long because any longer would just be too amazing for us mere mortals right? So it's actually a really deliberate strategy, naturally.

It's hard for me to justify spending more than 10 bux on a cd, even if it's a band I love. Like, at my local FYE they have the latest Woods of Ypres album which I LOVE, but it's something like $17. They're cray for asking that much. Saw the new Sabbath album for $12 at best buy and I turned my nose up at that.

It's hard for me to justify spending more than 10 bux on a cd, even if it's a band I love. Like, at my local FYE they have the latest Woods of Ypres album which I LOVE, but it's something like $17. They're cray for asking that much. Saw the new Sabbath album for $12 at best buy and I turned my nose up at that.

This is why the vinyl comeback is going to stick, I think. I don't bat an eye at a $20.99 double LP but as people increasingly see the CD as something you rip the mp3s from and never look at again, paying a premium above the going rate for those mp3s is going to fall completely out of vogue.

This is why the vinyl comeback is going to stick, I think. I don't bat an eye at a $20.99 double LP but as people increasingly see the CD as something you rip the mp3s from and never look at again, paying a premium above the going rate for those mp3s is going to fall completely out of vogue.

Especially when a lot of vinyls include a digital download anyways. I want more of that happening, honestly... I noticed, for example, that the new Black Sabbath album on vinyl included a digital download and on Amazon, the vinyl was sold with "AutoRip." That's pretty cool.

I need to hurry up and listen to my vinyl copy of 13 because the fucking mastering really sucks on the CD...

Especially when a lot of vinyls include a digital download anyways. I want more of that happening, honestly... I noticed, for example, that the new Black Sabbath album on vinyl included a digital download and on Amazon, the vinyl was sold with "AutoRip." That's pretty cool.

I need to hurry up and listen to my vinyl copy of 13 because the fucking mastering really sucks on the CD...

We talk about formats a lot here, but for any release, assuming production costs aren't an object and will definitely be recouped, I think this is the ideal: